The Abundant Life, Part 10: Don't Acquire What Isn't Yours
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
Release Date: 05/21/2025
Prayer in the Tradition of the Saints, Part 03: Augustinian Meditation
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
Continuing our experiential examination of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition, we turn this week to the great Doctor of the Church, St. Augustine of Hippo (d. 430 AD) and the form of meditation that has developed in the Augustinian school. (It's quite similar to Ignatian contemplation, but rather than seeking to place ourselves - by active imagination - into a biblical scene of the past, Augustinian meditation seeks to bring the scene itself into the present. It'll make more sense as you listen!) As with the other episodes in this series, I highly encourage you actually engage in...
info_outline
Prayer in the Tradition of the Saints, Part 02: Ignatian Contemplation
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
“How can I hear God’s voice?” “Would I recognize God’s voice if I heard it?” “How do I know if a sense of call is really from God?” These are some of the key questions of Christian spirituality. And thankfully, they are some of the very questions St. Ignatius of Loyola sought to answer (and did). What we are really talking about is the practice of discernment – learning to distinguish the voice of the Lord from the countless other voices (internal and external) that fill our lives. It is to take it as a given (I believe very rightly) that God is consistently speaking –...
info_outline
Prayer in the Tradition of the Saints, Part 01: St. Benedict and Lectio Divina
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
Prayer - as in abiding, personal contact with God - is the very heart of the Christian life. And yet for most of us, the practice of prayer is a struggle (it often is for me as well). Indeed, “How can I feel closer to God?” is probably one of the most asked questions in Christian history. And the good news is: there is an answer! Actually, there are many answers. And in this short series we will examine (and experience) three of the best: the Benedictine answer, the Ignatian answer and the Augustinian one. Today we begin with the Benedictine method of prayer, often know by its Latin name:...
info_outline
The Abundant Life, Part 13: Abundant Freedom (Conclusion)
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
With this episode we conclude our short series on the abundant life – exploring what it means to live a fully human existence in a world that that can been very dehumanizing. It's a series that has taken us deep into the 10 commandments, as I’ve been doing my best to make the case that far from being a checklist of restrictions, the 10 commandments are actually divine instructions for freedom—freedom from slavery, freedom from fear, freedom from our worst impulses, and esp. freedom the false gods we are so inclined to make for ourselves (and then worship in vain!). So today I want...
info_outline
The Abundant Life, Part 12: Coveting Never Helps
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
To put it bluntly, if it’s the abundant life we seek, then covetousness has to go. Mainly because yearning for the things of others turns life into a constant competition that we can never win. Whatever we possess or achieve, we can always find someone with "more." And the tragic result is a never-ending experience of deprivation and a fundamental dissatisfaction with our life (not to mention a sense of increasting tension with others). It's an important lesson brought to us by guest preacher Erika Karimi who started out as a Michigan based podcast listener and is now an ordained elder at...
info_outline
The Abundant Life, Part 11: Bearing Honest Witness
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
In this episode we turn to – you guessed it – the 9th commandment: You shall not bear false witness. It’s instruction that – like all the commandments – seems, at first glance, very simple and straightforward: When you are called as a witness in a trial, do not give false testimony. But when we look a little deeper, we see that this commandment is filled with implications that I think are critical to explore if we are to live the abundant life – not the least of which is to recognize that in life, there will be conflict. Wrongs will be done. Harm will happen. There will be disputes...
info_outline
The Abundant Life, Part 10: Don't Acquire What Isn't Yours
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
This is part 10 of our series on the abundant life as we try to figure out what it looks like – in practice – to live fully, to live richly as a human. It’s a search that has taken us deep into the 10 Commandments of all places - today to the 8th commandment and one of the most obvious lessons in life: You shall not steal. Seems clear enough: no robbing banks, no mugging anyone on the subway, go ahead pay for that pack of gum… And yet…, theft isn’t just about what we take with our hands—it’s about what we take with our power, with our privilege and sometimes what we acquire...
info_outline
The Abundant Life, Part 09: The Virtue of Integrity
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
We continue our search for life and life abundantly, a search that has taken us to unexpected places, not least the 10 commandments – which has turned out to be far more than a list of religious rules, but a source of profound insight into what constitutes a fundamentally healthy life. Today we turn to the 7th commandment: "You shall not commit adultery." And by we I mean “not me,” in that you have here another sermon from Ian (who has really been helping share the preaching load with me, which is a huge help and a big part of my no-burnout strategy!). As you might expect, Ian’s first...
info_outline
The Abundant Life, Part 08: Treasuring Humanity
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
Today we arrive at the 6th Commandment: “You shall not murder…” That, at least, is how the NRSV translates it. But as you’ll see, there is much, much more to the 6th commandment than not murdering someone. (Though not murdering is a darn fine place to start!) The goal, however, is to go much farther than not taking life. Rather we are to honor the sacred gift of humanness and all the beauty that is inherent to human life. That is to say: if we want the abundant life, we begin by honoring humanity - our own and that and of everyone else. In this episode I highly recommend...
info_outline
The Abundant Life, Part 07: Honoring Family, Weighting Memory
Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith
The 5th commandment tell us to "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." But what does "honor" truly mean? Is it obedience? Gratitude? Or something even deeper—a call to listen, to remember, and to carry forward the lessons of love and grace? Our world often teaches us to move fast, to leave the past behind, and to define ourselves solely by individual achievement. But the truth is, none of us walk this journey alone. We are all part of a story much larger than ourselves, one woven together by the people who have...
info_outlineThis is part 10 of our series on the abundant life as we try to figure out what it looks like – in practice – to live fully, to live richly as a human.
It’s a search that has taken us deep into the 10 Commandments of all places - today to the 8th commandment and one of the most obvious lessons in life: You shall not steal. Seems clear enough: no robbing banks, no mugging anyone on the subway, go ahead pay for that pack of gum…
And yet…, theft isn’t just about what we take with our hands—it’s about what we take with our power, with our privilege and sometimes what we acquire with our silence. It’s about the ways we allow systems to profit at the expense of others and about the trust we break when we misuse what’s been placed in our care. From corporations exploiting workers to governments selling out the public good, stealing is everywhere. And if we’re honest? It’s probably closer to home than we’d like to admit.
But here’s the good news: we were never meant to live in scarcity, fighting for what we can get. God’s desire has always been for us to live fully, freely, abundantly—not by taking, but by giving.
The lesson of this and all the “Commandments” isn’t mainly about checking moral boxes—it’s about stepping into the kind of life that brings wholeness, justice, and joy, both for ourselves and for others.
The text for this sermon can be found here: Exodus 20:15 (NRSV)
If you value the podcast and are able to support the community from which it comes, you can make a tax-deductible contribution to Canvas Presbyterian Church here! (Thank you!!!)
For more sermon series, resources and means of contacting me, simply head to jesusat2am.com or send me email here!